'Boxing Gym': A Bout With Human Nature

Some documentaries have a way of sneaking into your brain and becoming reference points for larger subjects. Frederick Wiseman's "Boxing Gym" is one of them. The title describes the setting, a pleasantly seedy training venue in Austin, Texas, and suggests the ostensible subject—the remarkably strenuous things people do to learn how to box, or get better at it. The people at Lord's Gym (founded 16 years ago by Richard Lord, a former professional boxer) are a diverse group: men, women, rich, poor, white, not white, kids, grownups, geezers, fancy dancers, genial clods. What they do is interesting to begin...

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Movie Clip: Boxing Gym

Watch a clip of "Boxing Gym," a documentary which dwells on the discipline of training in an Austin, Texas gym as people from all walks of life aspire to reach their personal best.